Spring arrangement especially for contact devices.



H. LANDIS.

SPRING ARRANGEMENT ESPECIALLY FOR CONTACT DEVICES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 1915.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' HEINRICH LANDIS, 0F ZUG, SWITZERLAND. SPRING- A BBAZNGEMIEN'J! ESPECALLY FOR NTACT DEVICES.

Speciiloation of Letten Intent.

Application illed April 5, 1915. Serial No. 19,408.

, arrangement which for instance may be used for making and breaking circuits. The object of the invention is Ito provlde a device by means of which a quick or Jerky motion of an organ may be obtained by` means of a slow moving driving organ.

I attainlthis object by means of springs or the likel arranged between two rigid bearings or abutments in such a manner that the spring takes a bent or curved positlon and is held under tension. In such a position the spring may be shifted by a comparatively small force to a neutral position from whence the spring owing to its elasticity proceeds by a Jerky movement to its end position.

The principle of the invention and the manner of carrying the same into practice will be more fully described in the fol- .lowing specification having reference to the accompanying drawings in which- Figures 1 to 4 show in side elevations four springs attached in different manners to their holders and having contact pieces playing between fixed terminals.

Figs. 5 to 7 show diierent forms of the springs in front views'.

Fig. 8 shows in a diagrammatical way a hot-wire-device for opening and closing a circuit making use. of the principle mentioned above and of the heat generated by the current.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 s denotes a blade spring which is riveted to a bearing or holder b at one end and which projects into acavity Iof a stationary abutment a. The blade spring s may have an of the forms shown in Figs. 5-7. The blade spring s is provided with a tongue z branching olf near one end of the spring s. On the free end of said branch there 1s a oontact piece e which is in touch with a'. fixed sprin piece c which may be a terminal. If a force Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

is applied to the sprin s in the direction shown by the arrow, t e spring a will be brought first to a neutral position. As soon as the spring s has reached this -position it will at once and by a jerky motion alter its xposition and throw the piece e to another xed piece or terminal d.. Until the spring s has reached its neutral position the con-- tact piece e does not leave the as soon as the sprin passes the neutral position the contact e 1s rapidly thrown from the terminal c or to terminal d. The force which has to be applied to effect the bending of the spring s lsecomparatively small and if the force 1s ap lied near one end of the spring .g it must applied but for a short time to obtaina vreversal of the position of the springs. The' pieces c and d may form terminalsof circuits and the terminal c;

electrlcity and the device may beused for changing the way of the current for any purpose. Y

The construction shown in Fig. 2 diii'ers :alsl

.a may be connectedv to a source of.

from that shown in Fig. 1 in that the spring .9 is not riveted to the piece b but is held at both ends in cavities of the pieces a and b. The spring operates in exactly the Same manner asthat shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a spring s both ends of which are fastened to two pieces a and b the spring being under tension.. As shown in this Fig. 3 the force for reversing the position of the spring s may be applied near the lower end of the spring s which is farthest away from the contact e andr nearest to the spot where the tongue z is branched off. The result is exactly the -same as in the previous described constructions.

Fig. 4 shows a form of construction in which the upper end of the spring s is fixed and the lower end rests loosel ina cavity of the lower abutment. In t is construction the initial force is a plied at or near the free end and far om thel contact piece e.

In all .the constructions shown the tongue z carrying the` contact c forms a. tangent tof the bend or curvature of the spring s Azo and it leaves this position only aterthe spring s has passed its neutral position, assuming again a tangential position. If the point where the force Iis applied to the spring s is near the spot where the tongue z branches 0E the latterl point will move very little and the position of the contact on the piece c or d is therefore not changed in any spring s will always return to its initial poy sition as the upper piece a is somewhat slant ing.

From the foregoing it .is clear that the force has to be applied but for a short disf tance. i

As shown in the Figs. 5 to 7 one or two tongues z may be made the tongues being on one or on both sidesof thespring s or a tongue may b`e stamped out of the springs as shown in Fig. 7

Dev1ces ccnstructed according to theprinciple described may be used for switchesof any kind for instance in time switches, hot wire instruments and so on. l

As an example how the principle may be used a switch actuated by heat is shown in Fig. 8. The terminal c is connected to the main. The current passes through the contact piece e tongue a to the spring s and from thence to the bearing a. To the bearing a the rod h is xed the lower end of which isfastened tothe bearing b by means f of a spring 7 and of'a bar g. On the rod h a wire coil k is arranged which is connected to the bearing a on the one side and to a contact -g/ on the other side. Contact y rests on a contact 1S arranged on a spring 'v said spring 'v being connected to the main. The bar g reaches up to the bearing o. and is provided with a slot through which the spring s passes. The spring f tends to move the bar g in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 8, the rod h resisting this tendency. If no or little cur rent passes through the mains the parts assume the position shown in the drawing. It the rod l1. is heated by the current it extends' and the spring f may now act on the spring s by means of the bar g. If springs has been moved to a certain measure the tongue a is thrown from the terminal c and its free end comes in engagement with the teeth of a toothed gear 7a rotatably mounted on an axle. The gear lo is provided with a pin Z projecting sidewardly from the said gear. The spring 'v on which the contact piece c is xed projects in the path of said pin Z in such a manner that the 'pin Zican break the circuit. 'The circuit is roken over the contacts y, z', each time the rod 7L gets hot. As soon as'fthhe circuit is I broken the rod h cools and contracts closing thereby the circuit again. Each time the circuit has been opened the gear lo has .been

moved forward by one tooth. After a certain number of switching in and out the pin QZ' lifts the contact a' off the contact y 'the' circuit is brokenA and is not closed-after the rod has cooled. The device needs readjustment by an operator. Various changesmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; for instance:

The gear l@ may be replaced by-a contact jd tFigs A1 to 4:) which is connected-to the ma1n. If the tongue z rests on the contact c the clrcuit through the installation of the consumer is closed. If the current consumed exceeds a certain limitrod 'h and bar g throw the tongue a away -from the contact o and press the tongue c on the contact d; The circuit is now interrupted.

Similar devices may be used for switching in or out heating devices if the' substance to be heated has reached the desired temperature. the substance to be, heated Y:tor instance water, etc. The device may be constructed in the following manner: `If no current is used the consumers circuit is open the contacts c and e being not in touch with each other. If-current is Wanted the tongue z is brought by hand, lever, etc., to bear on the contact o and the circuit is' closed in this manner. At the same time current passes through the coil on rod z, and the circuit is broken again after a redetermined time.

This evice, may be used 'with advantage in combination with the three-minute-time tions of the temperature on the rod h the ground plate 'of the instrument is advan-` In this case the rod l1, is heated by tageously made of the same material as the l Having described my invention what I wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A spring arrangement of thecharacter described adapted for opening and closing circuits comprising in combination, a blade spring, a tongue on said spring, two bearings holding said spring under tension in bent position, mean-s to act on -said spring for reversing the curve thereof, and terminals of a circuit between 4which said spring plays, substantially as described.

2. A spring arrangement of the character describedadapted for opening and closing circuits, comprising in combination, a blade spring, tongues on said spring, two bearings holding said spring under tension in a. bent i In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signaposition, a bar engaging said spring to open ture in the presence of two witnesses. a circuit, means to heat said bar by the action of the current, said tongues being HEINRICH LANDIS' 5 adapted to be shifted by hand for closing Witnesses:

the circuit, substantially as described and FRIH. IGH,

for the purpose set forth. M. C. PIERCE. 

